


Your Mending Heart Burdened with Wings of Stone

by ThreeKnivesInAWineGlass



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alchemy, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Magic, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2020-06-02 21:21:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19449736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThreeKnivesInAWineGlass/pseuds/ThreeKnivesInAWineGlass
Summary: Jihoon loses himself for a moment, gets lost in the dark irises, his mind overwhelmed as it perceives too many things in the demon’s eyes - apprehension, resolve, and pain, pain, pain. In that instant, Jihoon doesn’t see a demon. He sees a creature looking to live.





	Your Mending Heart Burdened with Wings of Stone

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. The characters I write about are inferred from public personas but should not be taken as accurate portrayals of their real world counterparts. Some fans have a hard time separating fantasy and reality, so before you read my story, I implore you to recognize these as characters, not celebrities. Please don’t project what you read in stories onto real people. Please respect real people.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy my fic.

It’s as he climbs up to check on the roof that it happens - the sun falls. At least that’s Jihoon’s first guess. Thunder roars through the sky as a shadow is cast over him before disappearing as soon as it came, which is immediate cause for concern, so Jihoon looks up and quickly realizes that the sun is fine, but the figure plummeting surely isn’t. He thinks it must be a bird, though as it keeps falling, it grows too large to be a bird, yet it undeniably has wings.

Jihoon doesn’t know what to do. He can’t look away as the figure falls, and once he sees it land, wings wild as it no doubt tries to soften the impact of colliding with the ground, Jihoon squints to try and see what kind of beast it might be. To be larger than a bird, have wings, and fall from the sky with a boom and a momentary eclipse, it would have to be a monster, wouldn’t it? Only the coming of demons is ever so extraordinary.

As he lifts a hand to block the light from his eyes, Jihoon gazes out towards the edge of the forest, and he feels sick when he notices Seungkwan out in the field. Jihoon told him to fucking stay inside! The sick feeling turns into proper bile, pushing at the base of his throat, when he sees Seungkwan wander towards the forest curiously.

Without another thought, Jihoon scrambles down from the ladder, the barn roof forgotten in favor of grabbing his firewood axe and running out to drag Seungkwan back to the house. If Seungkwan dies at the hands of a demon, Jihoon will never sleep again. Whether Jihoon holds any real authority over Seungkwan or not, Seungkwan is his responsibility. Seungkwan is - Seungkwan is just _his_ , and Jihoon will be damned if he lets anything hurt him ever again.

He’s cleared half of the field, is advancing on Seungkwan rapidly, but it doesn’t feel fast enough, not when he can see Seungkwan reaching out, brushing away branches to peer into the foliage. He’s too close to the edge, way too close for how many warnings Jihoon’s given him.

“Are you okay?” Jihoon just barely hears Seungkwan call out, words carried by the breeze. And then he steps into the trees, disappears beneath the shadow of the dense canopy, and Jihoon’s heart almost gives out. No, no, no. Not again. No!

Jihoon’s lost a shoe by the time he reaches the treeline. His bare foot is battered from the twigs and stones scattered on the ground, from his reckless pursuit of speed, but it doesn’t matter how many days he’ll limp for because he can see Seungkwan again. Relief floods him in tandem with anger, and as he pushes his own way into the thicket, he shouts, “Hey! Why the hell do you have such a hard time listening to me?”

Seungkwan turns, his face partially obscured by the dim lighting, though Jihoon can tell his expression is grim, and says, “He’s hurt, Jihoon.”

It takes a moment for Jihoon to process the words, the rush of fear slowly ebbing away, and that’s when he notices the wrist clutched in Seungkwan’s hand. That’s when he notices the body that Seungkwan is crouched over. That’s when he notices the dark eyes that are boring holes into him. That’s when he notices the wings.

The arm connected to the wrist in Seungkwan’s hold jerks, tries to pull away, but Seungkwan’s clearly got a good grip on it. If the demon doesn’t want to be held, though, Jihoon isn’t going to force it to bear Seungkwan’s nurturing streak, so he takes quick steps forward and pries Seungkwan’s fingers off of the cold flesh, dropping the arm unceremoniously as he says, “Don’t touch weird, unknown things, Seungkwan. Wasn’t the poison ivy enough of a lesson for you?”

His words seem lost on Seungkwan, who simply repeats, “He’s hurt,” then adds, “We have to help him.”

“No, we don’t have to do shit. Now, come on, we’re going back to the house,” Jihoon corrects him, starting to put his plan of dragging Seungkwan home into action. And when Seungkwan hooks a hand around a tree, halting their momentum, and starts protesting, Jihoon half considers threatening him with the axe still hanging at his side.

The demon remains quiet, but it does stand, and Jihoon stops pulling Seungkwan in favor of stepping in front of him just as Seungkwan himself falls silent. He understands why Seungkwan was calling it a he, now, actually taking the time to look at it. It looks human enough to pass for a man, at least in the face. In everything except the wings, really.

It stands taller than Jihoon and Seungkwan both, even slumped over as it is, using one hand to seemingly brace itself and lean against a tree. The wings fold, close in around its frame slightly, as it glances down at Jihoon’s side before meeting his gaze.

Jihoon loses himself for a moment, gets lost in the dark irises, his mind overwhelmed as it perceives too many things in the demon’s eyes - apprehension, resolve, and pain, pain, pain. In that instant, Jihoon doesn’t see a demon. He sees a creature looking to live. He sees every small bird that Seungkwan has ever nursed to health. He sees Seungkwan, not as he is now, but as he was when Jihoon first found him.

The axe slips easily from his hand as Jihoon moves to prop it against a tree. The creature - Jihoon isn’t sure what to call it now that he isn’t afraid of it but still doesn’t know what it is - watches him intently, its wings twitching, subtle but restless.

The whole gentleness thing has never been Jihoon’s strong suit, so he hesitates, wets his lips, hopes the creature’s reactions will be at least somewhat similar to Seungkwan’s, before asking, “You alright?”

“Oh, for the love of-” Seungkwan mutters before stepping around Jihoon and approaching the creature again. His hands are outstretched, like he expects cooperation, as he quietly says, “You poor, poor thing. Where does it hurt?” His tone is riddled with emotion, the honest empathy that Jihoon thinks he should have run out of years ago.

Confusion overtakes the creature’s face as Seungkwan advances, its mouth opening and closing like it wants to speak but doesn’t know how. The confusion twists into panic then, its wings constricting tighter around its body as it drops to the ground.

Seungkwan isn’t deterred by the sudden movement, it spurs him on if anything, and Jihoon watches as he kneels beside the creature and gently brushes his hands over the feathers. “Don’t be afraid, please. I want to help,” Seungkwan coaxes. “Let me in. Let me see. Please.”

Jihoon doesn’t expect it to work - Seungkwan’s heart is bared for all to see, open and eager, but the wild flicker in the creature’s eyes was too raw, too desperate. However, it seems he’s as bad at judging people as he is at handling them, and he stands frozen as the wings slowly shift. He holds his breath, knowing that Seungkwan would kill him if he acted rashly now, and waits as the creature reaches out to take Seungkwan’s hand, draws him in.

He’s five seconds away from losing it when Seungkwan crawls closer, the combined shadow of the forest and the wings shrouding him in darkness that Jihoon’s eyes can’t see through. He restrains himself still, and he heaves a sigh of relief when Seungkwan makes a soft noise and asks, “Do you want me to take this off?” There’s a faint shuffling, shins against fallen leaves and loose dirt, and then the quiet atmosphere is shattered by a terrible cry.

Instinct tells Jihoon that the creature’s attacked Seungkwan, that he needs to pick up the axe and swing now! But then he hears Seungkwan in the gaps between the retching screams, saying, “It’s okay. You’re okay. Breathe. Everything’s okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Art exists to be witnessed.
> 
> If you’re so inclined after reading my fic, comments are always appreciated, especially if you have thoughts, feelings, or questions about the story. Regardless of whether it’s long or short, comments let me know that my work was engaged with, which, as a writer, is all I hope for those reading my fic to do.


End file.
